Comfort
by Nithela
Summary: POST MOVIE, contains spoiler! It's the first night after Al went into our world with Ed. Mentioned big brother gets to comfort a scared thirteenyear old in the middle of the night. For all of you who also wanted to see some more fluff in the movie: Thy pr


**Nithela speaks: Hello everyone. This is my first one-shot, and also my first FMA fiction, so maybe it isn't that good... It's post-movie, so the one's who haven't seen it are not recommended to read. Just a bit of brotherly fluff (why the -- didn't they hug? GAAAH!)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own FMA**

**Warnings: Crappy spelling, FLUFF!**

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Edward Elric was currently awake at a very strange time of the day; he needed to use the bathroom. The sound of his metal foot against the floor was almost inaudible thanks to the thick woollen mat, and the candle he was holding in his automail hand burned with a small, fluttering flame as he moved down the familiar corridor.

On his way back he passed his little brother's room. Stopping to look at the familiar door, he smiled for himself. This was the first night Al spent on this side of the gate, and the brunette had gone to bed most reluctantly; they had been sitting in front of the fire in the big room on the ground floor for several hours talking with eachother, until they had dozed off for a while as their bodies screamed for rest.

Ed started moving away again but froze in an instant; something felt wrong. He faced the door and let his hand hover hesitantly over the handle, waiting for any signs at all from the room There was a suffocated sound, and he quickly pushed the piece of metal down and went inside.  
Al was curled into a tight ball on the upper end of his bed with his arms around his legs. His body shook slightly and a vague whimper escaped from his throat. He didn't seem to have noticed the intrusion.

Ed moved across the room, carefully avoiding making sudden movements or loud sounds. It would be a waste to wake up Al if he still was asleep.The bundle that was the younger Elric got a bit tighter, and there was another tormented sound.  
"Nii-san…" He murmured.  
Ed put the candle on the bedside table and looked at the teen's face; it was tensed with traces of tears on the cheeks. There were some sweat pearls on his forehead, too.  
All of a sudden eyelids flew open and amber eyes looked around in panic. Ed crouched beside the bed, examining the upset face in front of him.  
"Do you feel ill?" He asked with a trace of concern in his voice. Al shook his head and closed his eyes, letting out a shaky breath and seeming to relax.  
"I'm alright."  
He sat up and wrapped the cover around his pyjama-clad body. Ed noticed the shivering and put a hand on his forehead, checking the temperature.  
"Are you sure you feel okay?"  
The younger sibling nodded slowly and hugged his knees, rocking back and forth.  
"It's nothing, really."  
He hid his face under the bangs and sniffed a little. Edward didn't really know what to do. Something was not okay, anyone could see that.  
There was a strange sound from Al, and some drops hit his cover-clad knees.  
The blonde couldn't stand seeing him like that; he sat down on the bed and pulled the shivering bundle closer, pressing it tightly against himself, offering protection from whatever ghosts that haunted the smaller one's mind.  
"Why is my little brother crying in the middle of the night then? You had a nightmare?" He murmured, stroking the silky hair on the back of Al's head with his automail hand.  
Al sobbed weakly.  
"I was back in the armor again. It was all dark… You weren't there…" He said quietly, shivering despite the fact that it was quite warm inside the room. "It was… scary… I was alone… but I couldn't even cry because I had no eyes to cry with…"  
"Scch…"  
Edward began rocking back and forth softly, cradling the still sleep-warm, crying teen in his arms.  
"Nii-san's here…"  
He dug his nose into Al's hair, combing it gently with his flesh fingers to get rid of the tangles.  
The younger Elric sniffed a little and wrapped his arms around his brother.  
"I had almost forgotten how it felt to hold you like this." Ed murmured.  
All of a sudden his own eyes began to burn, and he bent his head down and pressed his left hand's thumb and index finger against the closed eyelids.  
"Nii-san… Are you crying?" Al asked curiously.  
Ed turned his head away and kept pressing the fingers against his eyes.  
"Why should I?"  
Al reached up a hand and felt at the older brother's cheek.  
"Your face is wet."  
"That's your own tears."  
"They don't go upwards."  
"How curious that they ended up on my face then."  
"Just because you're the big brother doesn't mean you can't cry."  
Ed wiped his eyes furiously.  
"I told you, I'm not crying."  
"Nii-san…"  
"_What_?"  
He turned to glare at his brother, and Al immediately saw that the golden eyes were brimmed with red.  
"Don't lie. Mom always told us it's bad to lie."  
Ed let out an odd kind of snort, which somehow evolved into a sob of his own.  
"I don't want to cry anymore… It's stupid." He whispered, looking up into the ceiling. Al leaned his head against the firm shoulder in front of him, hugging him a bit tighter.  
"You have no idea for how long…" Ed said after an eternity of complete silence. "…For how long I've wanted to hold you like this…"  
Al smiled and wiped the older sibling's face with his pajama sleeve.  
"How do I make Nii-san happy again?"  
Edward gave a last sniff and looked at his sibling with warmth in his golden eyes.  
"Nii-san _is_ happy."  
Al smiled as Ed let out a huge yawn.  
"…and he's also very sleepy." The blonde mumbled.  
Al let go of Ed and crawled back under the cover.  
"Why don't we get some sleep then?"  
Ed nodded and started rising from the bed, but was stopped by a hand on his wrist.  
"…please?" The younger brother said, begging. "Just for tonight?"  
Ed didn't have the power to argue, so he got down beside Al after blowing out the candle.  
"Good night, Nii-san."  
"Good night, Alphonse."  
It didn't take long before they had fallen asleep, Edward snoring lightly with his flesh arm under the brother's head and Alphonse snuggling as close as possible to the warm body beside him, enjoying the comfort and protection it offered.

**/Fin**

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** Nithela speaks: Yay, it's completed! What did you think of it? Was is OOC? Too fluffy? Should I make more FMA? R&R!  
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